JoostJa online bridge

My bid here was 4 ♠ and that ended the auction. We missed a good slam since West had ♠A Q 6 ♥K Q J ♦9 5 ♣A Q 8 6 3. Slam would be reachable if I bid 4 ♦.   The first round control in diamonds could be very important, and here it is, so I should tell partner about it.   The East hand only has 6 HCP but is another example of a hand that explodes with support points once a fit has been found.   It upgrades to about 13 support points (5 extra for the void in their suit and two extra for the extra trump).   West may have 19 points so a total of 32 is still possible.  

# posted by BFO : 12:36 AM  0 comments

My bid here was an awful 2 ♣.   Sometimes you find yourself doing things like that.   Getting tired, looking at a 5-card suit and a few point and you bid something before you know it, without giving it much thought.   This hand has too much points in South's 5-card suit.   Worst of all there is the big risk that partner is going to bid spades and the auction will propel you into disaster, as happened with us.   I will spare you the details, just don't bid 2 ♣.  

# posted by BFO : 3:59 AM  0 comments

My opening was 1 ♥ and that became awkward after partner responde with 1 ♠.   I did not have any game forcing bid available except 3 ♣.   Partner came with 3 ♦, 3 ♠ from me, and 4 ♠ from partner ended the ugly bidding.   I should have opened 2 ♣.   This hand is a minimum for a semi-forcing hearts opening, with only 7 controls and only 16 HCP, but the rebidding problem after a 1 ♠ response makes opening 2 ♣ the right choice.  

North had ♠98632 ♥9 ♦Q82 ♣AJ62.

Double dummy there were 10 tricks in spades and 11 in hearts. But hearts play so much easier.  

# posted by BFO : 3:40 AM  0 comments

Wow, 22 HCP and partner has 12-14.   Their side does not have an ace and a king, so in clubs they can have AQ at most.  

Assuming partner does have the ♣A, a grand slam is possible.   How to find out?  

If partner also has a fit in spades and the ♠K then I want to be in 7 ♠.   In order to get there I could use Jacoby, 4NT and after that 5NT if partner shows an ace.   But they could have a ruff in diamonds.  

How about 7 ♦?   If partner has four diamonds then I don't care about the ♦Q.   My bid here was 2 ♠, minor suit asking.   Partner responded with 3 ♣, showing four clubs, and I bid 3 ♦, forcing.   Partner bid 3NT, denying 4 diamonds.   This made me bid 6NT and we lost 13 IMPs because the other table was in 7NT (there were 13 tricks on top).   I should have bid 4NT instead of 6NT, Blackwood, and then partner would show the ♣A.   Count 3 extra points for the 5th spade and the 5th and 6th diamond and you have 25, totalling 37-39.  

Count extra points even for NT contracts, perhaps I will next time.  

# posted by BFO : 1:41 AM  0 comments

My bid was 3 ♠.   East passed and put this dummy down:
♠K73 ♥J962 ♦A83 ♣A52.  

The contract is reasonable, 4 ♠ is too high.   But we should be in 3NT!   My support points for spades is 11.   This is one of the rare cases where you have more support points for NT than for a trumpsuit: you have 10 HCP and 2 extra for the 5th and 6th spade, totalling 12 support points for NT.   Next time I should bid 3NT with the West hand.  

# posted by BFO : 1:56 AM  0 comments

Once again I was not brave enough, I Passed here.   Looking for slam is better, East bid clubs so may well be able to take care of you club losers.   I should bid 5 ♥.  

East had ♠Q5 ♥KJ72 ♦654 ♣AKQ2 .  
so East will bid slam over 5 ♥ with the ♥K and the 18 support points (15HCP + 1 for the doubleton + 2 for the extra trump).   Hmmm, perhaps East should just bid slam over 4 ♦.

# posted by BFO : 2:26 AM  1 comments

My bid here was 2 ♦, and that did not work out well.   East bid 3 ♦ and my 3NT ended the auction.  

East had ♠A42 ♥AK72 ♦KQ643 ♣2, so the right contract here is 6 ♦.  

A 1NT bid also does not help if you need to reach a high contract in diamonds.  
For that purpose, the right bid is 3 ♦.  


A good bidding sequence would be:


East is the dealer and East-West are vulnerable
WESTNORTHEASTSOUTH

1 ♦ Pass
3 ♦ Pass 3 ♥ (1) Pass
3 ♠ (2) Pass 4 ♦ Pass
5 ♦ Pass 6 ♦ (3) Pass
Pass Pass

(1) stopper
(2) stopper, no 3NT bid so no stopper in clubs
(3) East bids slam because West does not seem to have any wasted points in clubs and East has around 21 support points. West surely has the ♦A for his bidding.

# posted by BFO : 2:26 AM  1 comments

My bid was Pass but a 3 ♣ bid will be better most of the time.   A 1NT opening would have worked well too here, if East passes with the 4333 and 11 HCP.  

East had ♠K72 ♥QJ102 ♦1093 ♣KQ3, so 3NT is in danger if they take their diamond tricks and the ace of hearts.  

I entered this hand in my new Jack 4.0 to see what happens with 4 Jack players.   It bid 3NT over 2NT in the problem situation, and made 10 tricks.   Sometimes bridge is just like poker.

# posted by BFO : 2:30 PM  0 comments

For a change I am not presenting an error but a good result.   The bid I made was 3 ♣ and that worked out well.   I think it is a good bid, even though it forces to game.   A minor suit fit seems a certainty because the opponents will have at least 8 spades.   With a minor suit fit you have about 14 support points, so you reach the 27-or-so combined points needed for 5m.   After my 3 ♣, partner bid 3NT and that ended the bidding.

Partner had ♠K104 ♥KQ85 ♦J4 ♣KJ76, so 3NT is in danger if they take their 4 diamond tricks and the ace of spades.  

I was playing the hand versus the computer so even as dummy I had to play the hand.   The lead was ♠A, 7, 6 and I "encouraged" with the 10 since the opponents play high=encouraging on partners lead. East continued spades so we had +430 and 10 IMPs.  

I note that 5 ♣ is down, losing a spade and two diamonds.   Is 3 ♣ a good bid indeed?   The hand is from a "competition" I am doing with the latest version of computer bridge playing program Jack, version 4.0, I just received.   I selected English Acol as bidding system for me and my computer partner.   But it advises Pass, not 3 ♣ here.   And Jack is supposed to be pretty good.   East had ♠AJ9852 ♥742 ♦KQ98 ♣-, so a diamond switch is not really impossible to find.  
After 10 or so -1 to +1 scores in the match this one was the first big swing.

# posted by BFO : 2:24 PM  0 comments

My bid was 4 ♥, intended as stronger than 3 ♥. Not a good bid since 3 ♥ is already unlimited and the 4 ♥ bid suggests a void.  

I like 4 ♠.   If you bid 4 ♠ you are saying that you want to play 4 ♠ even opposite only 6 HCP with 4 spades.   After you 4 ♠ bid West can calculate support points and see if slam is in reach.  

West had ♠A87652 ♥3 ♦65 ♣Q1064, only 6HCP but around 14 support points.   With East promising around 19, slam should be a possibility.  

# posted by BFO : 4:43 AM  0 comments